Stand
by Cody'sxFavoritexGirl
Summary: "You get mad, you get strong. Wipe your hands, shake it off. Then you stand." Zack Ryder is sick of being treated like a nobody, so he decides to make a stand for not only his career, but his dream. Zack Ryder song-fic written to try and cheer up my bestest buddy Mel. The song belongs to Rascal Flatts, not me.


**A/N: I own nothing, so don't sue. This is a Zack Ryder song-fic that I wrote for my bestest buddy Mel because she's feeling down about the fact that Zack is being overlooked a lot lately, and I hate seeing her sad, so Mel, I hope this makes you feel a little better. :)**

**Stand**

**You feel like a candle in a hurricane.**

**Just like a picture with a broken frame.**

**Alone and helpless.**

**Like you've lost your fight.**

**But you'll be alright, you'll be alright.**

Zack Ryder ripped his way through the thick black curtain into the backstage area, his chest heaving and his mind spinning. He'd been booked to job to Heath Slater this week. Heath Fucking Slater. Three months ago he'd been the United States Champion, and now he was putting over a guy who looked like the chick from Wendy's, and had about as much talent as she did too.

He shoved past the techies and fellow wrestlers who tried to talk to him and headed straight for his locker room. Once inside, he started laying into one of the metal lockers, screaming at the top of his lungs as his fists met the cold steel over and over again. Finally he stopped, and he stood there staring at the huge dent he'd made, unable to fully process what he was seeing. The pain in his hands caught up to him, and he looked down to see blood spilling out of his ripped knuckles. Tears filled his eyes, and they streamed down his cheeks as he collapsed to the floor, holding his head in his shaking hands.

It seemed that his dream was slowly becoming a nightmare, and he had no way to wake up.

**Cause when push comes to shove,**

**You taste what you're made of.**

**You might bend till you break,**

**Cause it's all you can take.**

**On your knees you look up.**

**Decide you've had enough.**

**You get mad, you get strong.**

**Wipe your hands, shake it off.**

**Then you stand, then you stand.**

Zack cried for what felt like an eternity, letting out all of the pain and frustration that he'd been holding in for the past few months. All of the constant losing, all of the constant humiliation, all of it flowed away in the form of the small crystalline spheres that fell from his bright blue eyes.

Finally, he managed to calm himself, and he drew his knees to his chest and examined his hands. The blood had stopped flowing so profusely, and now it just oozed out. He brushed his thumb over one of his torn knuckles and examined the smear of ruby red on his skin. Seeing his blood on his fingers made him angry.

He had bled for this company, and this was how they repaid him? By grinding his career into the dirt and spitting on him?

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

No. He wouldn't let it end this way. He had more fight left in him. He wasn't going to go down passively.

**Life's like a novel.**

**With the end ripped out.**

**The edge of a canyon.**

**With only one way down.**

**Take what you're given before it's gone.**

**And start holding on, keep holding on.**

Zack cleaned himself up, changed out of his ring gear, and stormed to Vince McMahon's office. He had a few things he wanted to say to his boss.

He ripped the door open and entered without even knocking, and Vince looked up, surprised. "Ryder, what the hell do you think you're–"

"Shut up and listen," Zack growled, slamming his hands down on Vince's desk and bending over to look him in the eyes. "I have a few things I need to discuss with you."

Vince's eyes widened at Zack's aggressive tone, and for some reason he nodded at the Long Island Iced-Z to continue instead of tossing him out of his office.

"I'm sick of this shit, Vince," Zack said angrily. "I'm sick of having to go out and put over guys like Heath Slater who don't have an ounce of the passion that I do for this business. I know I'm better than what you take me for, Vince, and I want a chance to prove myself. You gave it to me before, so why can't you do it again?"

**Cause when push comes to shove,**

**You taste what you're made of.**

**You might bend till you break,**

**Cause it's all you can take.**

**On your knees you look up.**

**Decide you've had enough.**

**You get mad, you get strong.**

**Wipe your hands, shake it off.**

**Then you stand, then you stand.**

"Zack, we're pushing Heath because he deserves a chance to–"

"_Heath _deserves a chance? Vince, are we thinking of the same guy?" Zack spat, cutting Vince off. "Heath doesn't give a damn about whether he gives a good match or not, all he cares about are the figures on his pay check. I work my ass off to make this company better because I love it more than I've ever loved anything in my life, except for my girlfriend Mel. The fans love me. Don't you hear them chanting 'We Want Ryder' at every event? I'm not even on the card for half of those same events! Why don't you get your head out of your ass and listen to what the fans want for once?"

Vince stared at him for a few seconds, his brow furrowed. It was obvious that he was turning over what Zack had said in his mind. Finally, he looked at the young wrestler and said, "You know, Zack, I should have you fired for that. But I respect the balls you've got to come barging in here and speak your mind to me like that. And you're right, I've been ignoring both you and the fans lately. I guess I've been so caught up in what I want that I've been blind to the fact that I'm hurting the company and your career. I'm going to call the booking team and tell them to put you in a match against Kofi for the Intercontinental Championship tomorrow night on Raw. And I'm going to have you win. Does that sound good?"

Zack let out the breath he was unaware he'd been holding. "That would be great, Vince. Thank you."

Vince shook his head. "No, thank you for opening my eyes, Zack."

**Every time you get up,**

**And get back in the race.**

**One more small piece of you,**

**Starts to fall into place.**

The next night on Raw, Zack Ryder defeated Kofi Kingston to begin his first-ever Intercontinental Championship reign. As the crowd went crazy, the young Superstar stood in the middle of the ring and held his new title proudly in the air, a huge grin on his face.

No longer would Zack Ryder be overlooked.

**Cause when push comes to shove,**

**You taste what you're made of.**

**You might bend till you break,**

**Cause it's all you can take.**

**On your knees you look up.**

**Decide you've had enough.**

**You get mad, you get strong.**

**Wipe your hands, shake it off.**

**Then you stand, then you stand.**

**END**

**A/N: I hope that made you feel even a little bit better, Mel. All I can say is that I hope this happens in the future, because Zack is really amazing and he doesn't deserve to be treated like this.**


End file.
